Jared Middleton
by paramoria
Summary: Jessica gets herself in too deep.


"Jessica."

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked for who called out her name. "Jessica," she heard again, but this time met eyes with a boy.

_A boy_.

Jared flashed his trademark side smile and waved her over. She wearily looked to her left and right to make sure he was talking to _her_. Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to his seat.

"Sit down," he offered, pointing at the empty chair across from him. She swallowed hard and looked up to find Ashley buried in a book at their usual table in the corner. She wouldn't notice her missing for just one day, would she? Of course she'd understand once Jessica got a chance to explain her absence. This boy wasn't just anyone. This was Jared. Jared Middleton, the star quarterback and the most popular boy in school. She bit her lip but took the seat.

She sat there idle and still in shock that _he_ wanted _her_ to sit with _him_. He interrupted her little moment, "Thanks again for helping me out with that math assignment. You really turned my grade around."

"No problem," she replied.

"Who's this? Where's Sarah?" one of Jared's buddies asked.

"Dude, this is Jessica, the girl I was telling you all about. Isn't she as cool as I said?" All his friends nodded and mumbled in unison.

"No, I'm not-" she swallowed with a shake of the head, "I'm not cool."

"Of course you are. Only cool people help me with homework."

She laughed nervously and wrung her hands under the table. "I wouldn't say that makes me cool..."

"Very cool," he winked. The pair sat in silence as the other football players roughhoused and ate their food so fast it didn't seem humanly possible. Jessica finally touched her food after a few minutes. She took care with it to make sure she didn't choke on it and make herself look like an idiot in front of Jared. "So Jessica," Jared spoke again. "Do you think you could help me with some other subjects? I'm falling behind in English Lit, and I just don't understand what's going on."

Her throat grew tight as she weighed her options. On one hand, she didn't need the extra stress because she knew by helping him Jared really meant doing his homework for him. On of the other hand, she would get to spend a tiny bit more time with Jared. He quirked his brow at her while he wanted for a response. Jessica dug her palms into the front of her thighs. Cheating was wrong, but doing it for Jared just seemed so right.

"Yes," her voice cracked. She swallowed and repeated it again with a nod.

"Cool. Thanks Jess," he plastered on that trademark smile and she melted. He called her Jess. No boy had ever called her Jess before.

* * *

Ashley caught up to Jessica after fifth period to walk together. "Where were you at lunch today?"

"You'll never believe what happened!"

"What?"

"Jared asked me to sit with him!" Ashley's jaw went a little slack.

"Jared? _Thee_ Jared?"

"Yes!" Jessica exclaimed. "He called me cool!" Ashley nodded and watched her friend's smile go from big to impossibly gigantic. Her head was obviously in the clouds. Jared Middleton was not a nice guy, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Jessica. There had to be some sort of alternative motive to his actions, but Ashley wasn't completely sure, so she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Jessica was fragile, and she didn't want her best friend to be taken advantage of.

"He called me Jess," she breathed.

"Well, I'm happy for you," Ashley smiled genuinely and pulled Jessica in for a side hug. "Doing anything interesting in art today?"

"Not really. Just drawing. I think we have to seek inspiration from historical figures."

"Just don't pick Hitler," Ashley joked.

"Oh, ha ha. I think I'm going to pick Shakespeare."

"Yeah, that's a good choice." Ashley smiled. Of course she'd pick Shakespeare. Jessica was a huge geek when it came to his work.

"I'm gonna go. Have fun in Earth and Space!" Jessica said turning away to walk in the other direction. Ashley's arm fell and smacked into her side. She hadn't realized her arm was still around Jessica.

The tall brunette hurried to class and walked in the find her normal spot taken. She hated not having assigned seats. "This one's open," she heard and turned to find Jared pointing to the seat in front of him. He asked, "You're Jessica's friend right? Ashlynn?"

"Ashley."

"Ashley, of course. I'm sorry." She waved it off and sat down. Front row spot. They were watching a movie in class today. How convenient, she thought.

After the movie was over, there were still thirty minutes left of class to work on the next assignment. As Ashley was putting in her earbuds, she heard one of Jared's friends ask him if he was going to start his homework. He snickered and said he had someone to do it for him. The two started talking in hushed voices, but Ashley was close enough to eavesdrop. Jared shared his little plot about getting Jessica to do all his work so he could graduate with honors. "You see, man, even if I bomb all my finals, my grades will still be high enough to get me that diploma."

"You, sir, are a genius."

"I know."

Ashley was seeing red when she left the classroom. Fuming, she stomped to her locker and quickly grabbed her jacket. She slammed the locker door shut with a bang and stalked to Jessica's locker, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jessica and Jared together. Jessica was leaning against the wall with this look on her face Ashley had never seen before. She looked like she had just found a basket full of newborn puppies. Ashley took another step forward but had to stop. She couldn't tell her best friend the truth. Not right now. This boy, this jerk-off, was Jessica's crush and had been since freshman year. What she saw in him, Ashley didn't know, but she wasn't about to ruin the moment for Jessica, no matter how bittersweet it was.

* * *

It was two weeks later and it was movie night for the pair of friends. Ashley was let in by Levi, Jessica's twin brother. She walked down the long hallway of bedrooms and opened Jessica's at the end. The girl was lying on her bed crying. There were papers and thick textbooks strewn on and around the bed. "Jess, what's wrong?" She moved forward, taking care to step over random papers, and climbed onto the bed.

Jessica peeled herself off the wet pillow to say, "What the fuck do you think is wrong? Look around." Ashley wanted to retort. She wanted to talk about how one student can't possibly have this much homework, but she didn't. Instead, she lied down next to Jessica, ignoring the pencil stabbing her in the side, and held her. She simply held her while she cried. Ashley knew her best friend was under too much stress, and she knew how dangerous that could be for her. And, she knew exactly how to calm her down. She pulled the girl in close and rubbed her back, not saying a word. The minutes felt like hours, but it was okay because they were together.

"I'm ready to talk," Jessica said. Her voice was muffled by Ashley's neck. Jessica always seemed to get as close to her as possible. "I've been doing Jared's homework for him, and one day he asked if I could help out a few of his friends. I couldn't refuse him, so I agreed and it spiraled out of control. I'm doing homework for senior classes, and I don't get it. I just don't get it. And, there's so much of it to do."

Ashley pulled away just enough so she could see Jessica's red eyes. "I'll help you finish all these assignments if you promise me you'll stop helping Jared." Gray eyes flickered up and met Ashley's. "He's smart. He can do his own work." Jessica nodded with a small smile. "I don't want to see you cry like that ever again, okay? You don't deserve to feel that way."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now, let's start our movie night," she said sitting up. "We'll put one on and work on these papers while we listen."

"Mean Girls?" Jessica asked, pouting.

"Is there any other choice?" Ashley laughed.

After Mean Girls was over, they still had about two hours of work left to do, so Ashley put on some romantic comedy and dove back into advanced statistics.

"I just thought it'd be different, you know? I've liked this guy since freshman year," Jessica said, interrupting the silence during a sappy moment of the movie. She didn't look up from her textbook. "I just- I thought we had something, and through this experience, I thought Jared would notice it. I guess I was wrong." Ashley bit her lip, unsure of what to say. Jessica chuckled softly to herself and mumbled under her breath, "I just wanted a kiss. I've never been kissed before." Ashley leaned over her assignment and pecked Jessica on the lips.

"Now you have," she said simply and went back to work.

Jessica couldn't deny the tingling feeling she felt rush down her spine at the contact, but she didn't understand it. How could she? That was her first kiss. However baffled she was by the kiss, Jessica couldn't wipe away the small smile that had found its way to her face for the rest of the night.


End file.
